Musharraf’s LoC offer praised by militants

19 October 2005The DawnTariq Naqash

Muzaffarabad: An alliance of Kashmiri militant groups fighting the Indian rule in held-Kashmir on Wednesday welcomed President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s offer to open the Line of Control, allowing the people from across the border to come and join aid efforts in the quake-affected areas. “The people of Jammu and Kashmir have never accepted this line as the Line of Control because movement across it is right of every resident of the disputed region,” said the United Jihad Council, which brings together nearly a dozen fighter groups engaged in the armed struggle. “If today India and Pakistan have also acknowledged this reality, we welcome it and deem it vindication of our stand,” the UJC said. “The Kashmiri people living on both sides of the divide shares the grief of quake-stricken people and have been extending help to them through all possible means,” the UJC said. It urged India to read the writings on the wall and fulfil its pledges made to the Kashmiris and the international community regarding the plebiscite in the disputed region. “The Kashmiris are burdened with the grief as the worst ever calamity has cost them thousands of precious lives and properties worth billions. India can mitigate their pains and sufferings by granting them right to self- determination,” it said.